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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24648598">Making the World a Better Place</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/followyourenergy/pseuds/followyourenergy'>followyourenergy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kinda Like Love [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Close-knit families, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Ethicist Castiel, M/M, Married Castiel/Dean Winchester, Professor Castiel (Supernatural), Racism, Teacher Dean Winchester, difficult conversations, discussions of racism, supportive family, tackling problems together</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 03:00:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,762</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24648598</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/followyourenergy/pseuds/followyourenergy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Dean has had a stomachache for days. Taking in the news reports, the constant chirp of social media, opinions that make him want to retch... It’s a lot. It’s so much.<br/>He feels helpless. Drained. Terrified of a world that still doesn’t treat people as it should. And he doesn’t even face the daily horrors and indignities of discrimination.<br/>He doesn’t know what to do. What to say. How to make sense of something that’s senseless and wrong. Or how to explain it to his Kindergarten students, kids he hasn’t even seen in person in months." </p><p>Dean and Castiel strive to make the world a better place for all by addressing racism.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel's Mother/Joshua (Supernatural), Castiel/Dean Winchester, other relationships mentioned</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Kinda Like Love [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1117803</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>180</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Making the World a Better Place</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Welcome to the next timestamp for "Kinda Like Family, Kinda Like Love." You don't have to read that or the other timestamp to read this one, but they do give you some context about the relationships in the story.</p><p>This story is about Cas, Dean, and their families addressing racism. It is a story that I hope inspires us all to be better people to our fellow humans. </p><p>If you've read my other work, you know that I've written about themes of homophobia, grief, intimate partner violence, child abuse, substance abuse, chronic illness and caregiving, and more, so this topic shouldn't surprise any of you. As with all my other work, I seek to imbue a difficult topic with a message of hope and love. I hope you will read it with a spirit of hope and love, too.</p><p>My thanks to two dear, compassionate humans who read this through and offered feedback. ❤️</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Dean has had a stomachache for days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taking in the news reports, the constant chirp of social media, opinions that make him want to retch... It’s a lot. It’s so much. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He feels helpless. Drained. Terrified of a world that still doesn’t treat people as it should. And he doesn’t even face the daily horrors and indignities of discrimination.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t know what to do. What to say. How to make sense of something that’s senseless and wrong. Or how to explain it to his Kindergarten students, kids he hasn’t even seen in person in months. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re deep in thought,” Cas says, massaging his shoulders. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.” He sighs as he gets to his feet and wraps his arms around his husband. “I’m ready to move to another planet whenever you are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cas chuckles, warm and deep and understanding. “Utopia must exist somewhere.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Closest I got is right here, babe.” Dean squeezes his middle. “But out there...fuck, I don’t know. I gotta try to explain this somehow. The kids are asking questions and I don’t have any good answers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know. How do you explain a systemic problem that has existed for centuries that we still, for all our advances, haven’t managed to eradicate?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Dean leans back to look at his husband. “How do you do it, Mr. Ethics Professor?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Racism is wrong. There’s no real ethical argument, no other side to reason about or defend.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“True.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But to answer your deeper question...I listen. I research. I look at my own bias and tear apart the racism I’ve learned in subtle and unsubtle ways throughout my life. I acknowledge the work I still have to do, that we have to do as a society. I grieve. I take action, speak up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dean smiles, thinking of all the work Cas has been doing recently. His specialty is tech ethics, but he’s been working both on his own and with Billie, Charlie, and Victor Henrikson at Harvard on larger issues of technology, race, and ethics, specifically how systemic racism has led to discrimination and the dampening or elimination of important voices and contributions in academics and the tech world. He’s doing a lot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dean isn’t doing anything. He frowns. “What can I do? I don’t have a big platform like you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t need a big platform. You can do the same things I’m doing, and some other things. You have a unique opportunity to teach youth a better way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dean nods. “Yeah. I just don’t wanna screw up, you know? Say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, make things worse.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cultural humility is important.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s the ability to be open to others’ cultural identities and what’s important to them. It’s being self-aware, self-reflective and self-critical. It’s learning and listening. It’s knowing your experience of someone else’s culture is limited and always working on yourself to do better. It’s knowing history. It’s working to balance out power imbalances. It’s creating positive change in systems by working </span>
  <em>
    <span>with </span>
  </em>
  <span>systems to examine power imbalances and correct them.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So being aware of myself and my own bias, even if I don’t think I have any, and striving to be better and understand others’ experiences.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And doing better when you do screw up. We all screw up, hon.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dean nods. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You could talk with Joshua if he’s willing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You think Joshua would be willing to talk with me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think he’d love to. Joshua has always been open and shares his stories freely to connect with and comfort others. I will say, though, that not everyone wants that, and that it’s important to do your own research, to not expect people who are dealing with these struggles to educate you on these struggles. It’s our job to educate ourselves and others.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Yeah, I get that, that makes sense.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cas smiles at Dean. “He’s always been so wonderful to me, and he’s a natural teacher, like you. I’ve talked with him a lot about this over the years, and even quite recently. Give him a call, see what he says.”</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Joshua is Cas’ mother’s new husband. The two widows married on New Year’s Day after being friends for decades. He is a gentle soul, loving and kind to his family. He is also a black man. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Racism has been around way longer than any of them have been alive, but Cas is privileged not to have to think about it every day. With the recent horrors that have once again shined the light on the problem of racism in the United States, Cas is again thinking about it, and ashamed that he let it slip his mind as easily as he had. Yes, it has always been a part of his work in a broad sense, but he never gave a lot of thought about it in his everyday life...because he didn’t have to. Not unless he was out with his nieces, Shara and Anjuli, or with his sister-in-law, Kali, or with Joshua. And it was that realization that brought the issue (and his shame about it) into focus yet again. Of course he didn’t have to think about it. But they did. Every damn day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’d called Joshua in tears. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Joshua, as always, was loving in his response. So, it was without reservation that Cas suggested Dean talk to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Having the conversation in person would be so much better, but because they’re also going through a pandemic, they’ve limited their contact with each other. It’s been extremely difficult for the close-knit family, but they talk often and do game nights online. Cas can’t wait to hug everyone he loves. Soon, he hopes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After their twins, Jamie and Robbie, are in bed, Cas sits with Dean by his side and starts the Zoom meeting for everyone—everyone being the whole family, </span>
  <span>because once Dean mentioned it to a few of the others, everyone wanted to join in. They’re all feeling a little helpless and down right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They greet each other with their usual exuberance. His brother Mike, wife Hannah, and their kids Lily and Alfie talk about their recent hike. Dean’s mother Mary updates everyone on her adventures in online dating—as in actual dates online. His brother Gabe and sister-in-law Kali shout at Anji and Shara to </span>
  <em>
    <span>please find something quiet to do</span>
  </em>
  <span> over the sounds of their drums and tambourine. Anna, his sister, sits placidly, looking a little worse for wear; educating Nalia while also working from home has been stressful for her. Dean’s brother Sam and his wife Eileen tell everyone the latest holdup in their efforts to adopt a second child. Ellen and Bobby, family friends and grandparents to the kids, and Laurel and Joshua, Cas’ mom and stepdad, are watching their children and grandchildren and seem to be delighting in it all. Jo couldn’t make it, but sent her best.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the chatter dies down, Dean speaks up. “So I wanted to talk to you, Joshua, and everyone, about everything that’s happening right now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, Dean, I’m glad you do,” Joshua says softly. “What would you like to talk about?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dean rubs his forehead, his face, the back of his neck. He’s on edge, emotional. Cas lays a hand on his back, hoping to ground him. The conversation is difficult.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I need to know how I can be part of the solution and not be a selfish, ignorant, self-absorbed asshole.” His eyes begin to water.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dean.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the sound of his name, Dean looks up at Joshua’s open, kind face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t help anyone by calling yourself names.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dean nods and swallows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, what I’m hearing is you want to do better. I think we can all do better, son, don’t you? And we don’t have to call anyone names to do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dean nods again, sniffling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know, I’m just one man. My experiences are different from yours and from other people, even people with the same skin color. And while I can say that this family has been nothing but good and loving to me, that hasn’t always been my experience outside of here. I’m old enough to remember the Civil Rights Movement. I remember Ruby Bridges. The Freedom Riders. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. I remember being afraid sometimes—afraid to anger a white person, afraid to sit where I shouldn’t or stand in one place too long, afraid the rights all the adults around me were fighting for were going to be gone by the time I got to be all grown up, all because of the color of my skin. I used to befriend folks just so I’d be less likely to be hurt by them. And it’s still not easy, even today.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tears slide down Cas’ face. Next to him, his husband trembles. Cas can see that everyone in the family is affected; faces are somber. The heartbreak for someone they love is palpable, even if they aren’t in the same room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t tell you that to make you feel sad for me. I tell you because we need to feel it to heal it. We need to know the impact of our actions and inactions. We all need to work toward making the world a better place for ourselves and for our little ones.” Joshua smiles as his eyes scan his grandchildren.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are you all crying?” Anjuli asks as she climbs into her mother’s lap. “I can play the tambourine for you if you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone smiles at the young girl. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re sad because some people don’t get treated fairly, the way they want and deserve to be treated,” Gabe explains to his daughter. “Some people are mean to other people because of how they look, and it makes us sad and we want to stop it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cas listens to his brother, impressed that the guy who used to noogie him relentlessly has become such an adult. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, we should stop that!” she declares. “I’m gonna sing a song about it! Um...okay, here it is! </span>
  <em>
    <span>Beee nice! You have to beee nice! Nice to everyone, and everything, and that will make the world much betterrrr...beee nice! ‘Cause you wouldn’t like it if someone wasn’t nice to youuuu! So you have to be nice, toooo!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The family breaks into applause. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was wonderful, Anji,” Laurel says. “That’s a good song to sing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re part of the solution, Anji,” Joshua smiles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yay! I’m gonna go practice!” She scurries away, blowing away as quickly as she blew in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s a good example of someone using her talents to make things better,” Cas says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She is,” Joshua agrees.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that enough, though?” Anna asks. “It’s so important, and yet I’m so tired.” She wipes her eyes. “It’s all so overwhelming. I—I don’t know what to do sometimes, and I’m ashamed to say I don’t have the energy to do much most days. It’s such a big problem.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you sign a petition?” Kali asks her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, of course. I have, several—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then you can help. You are helping.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Will you vote?” Joshua asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my gosh, yes, absolutely.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then you can help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is donating money considered helping?” Mike asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, of course.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soon the call is filled with voices, detailing how they’re helping—by donating, by demonstrating, by petitioning, by sharing art and music, by giving people a safe space, by taking care of themselves, by teaching others, by looking at themselves, by speaking out in ways large and small. Cas starts to feel lighter. More hopeful. He turns toward Dean, who’s talking excitedly now about how he can plant the seed of change with every child in his classroom, every child in his school. They continue their conversation for another hour, talking about the importance of self-examination, being anti-racist and fighting against anti-racist policies, and being models of anti-racism for everyone they meet, both children and adults. Their talk is painful, uplifting, difficult, important.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cas has never been prouder to be part of this family, these people who love each other and want to make the world a better place.</span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Dean sits with his students in their virtual classroom. It’s been tough, not getting to see their little faces in school every day and hug them and teach them all the skills that can’t be taught over video. But they’ve danced and sung and read and exercised, and they’ve learned a lot of important lessons.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They’re about to learn another one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>First, he reads them “The Youngest Marcher” and “Each Kindness,” books that are thought-provoking but at their age level. Then, he opens up the conversation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, I have something very important to talk about with you guys,” he says. He knows that their parents or guardians or sitters are with them, for which he’s grateful. It’s a message they need to hear, too. “Do you know what’s been on the news, or what’s happening in the world right now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They talk about many different things, including the pandemic, their parents being home, their favorite amusement parks being closed, their pets and families. Finally, Haley mentions that she went to a protest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s a protest?” Kameron asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a gathering of people who are talking about how they don’t agree with something,” Dean explains. “The thing that people are protesting is how some people have been hurt or died because other people made bad choices because of what color their skin was, and how lots of people aren’t treated fairly because of their skin color. They want that to change.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why?” Tasha asks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why what, Tasha?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why aren’t people being fair?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because some people don’t like people with brown skin, my mommy said,” Chris answers, pointing to his bare arm. The fact that he even knows that at five years old breaks Dean’s heart. He reaches his hand out to Cas, who squeezes it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s not fair,” Tasha responds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it’s not,” Dean says. “It’s not fair at all. Every person should be treated nicely. We should be nice to people and give them the same things we have. We share and we make things fair, right guys?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right!” eighteen little voices (and a few big voices in the background) say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And the color of someone’s skin doesn’t change who they are on the inside. Everyone has feelings. Is it okay to hurt people’s feelings?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And if we do hurt someone’s feelings, what do we do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gets answers from “Say you’re sorry” to “Go to time out” to “Give them your cookie from your lunch.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good job, guys. We should look at what we did wrong, say we’re sorry, and make it better. We should be better and not hurt their feelings again. Like in the book we read, we don’t want to miss our chance to be nice, to be kind. It doesn’t feel good to be mean, does it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Noooooo!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It feels good to be nice, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeaaaaahhh!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right. So listen. I know that you might get scared sometimes about the things you’re seeing or hearing. So when you do, get help from your mom, or your dad, or your gramma, or the person taking care of you, okay? Don’t keep it inside you. And if you see someone not being nice, say something. You can say it yourself or get some help from a grownup, okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They all nod. Dean talks with them for a while about why people look different, why people sometimes treat other people poorly, and why it’s important to stand up for all their friends. It’s a difficult conversation, but the kids understand it better than many adults, Dean muses. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>Watching their young children play that night, Cas thinks about the world they’re inheriting. They’re living through so much already, and they are blissfully unaware. It won’t always be that way, Cas knows. He can only hope that the world will become a place where people are more important than money or power or politics, where kindness reigns, where liberty and justice exist for all, not just some. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thinkin’ hard or hardly thinkin’?” Dean asks with a tired grin. He kisses him on the temple. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thinking hard,” he answers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Dean settles down beside him. They link fingers and rest their heads against each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll teach them,” Dean says. “We’ll work hard. We’ll remind each other. We’ll be the examples they need, and we’ll give them other good examples in their lives.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cas nods. “I love you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Love you, too, sweetheart.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sigh in unison.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading with an open heart. ❤️</p></blockquote></div></div>
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